'Excited' Modi takes to Twitter ahead of meeting Abe in Japan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Tuesday to flag his upcoming Japan visit, saying he saw the trip as an opportunity to lift ties to a new level and that India and Japan "could learn a lot from each other".

Modi, tweeting from his personal account @narendramodi, included Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's handle in his messages, saying he was "particularly excited to meet PM@AbeShinzo" with whom he said he enjoyed a warm relationship from previous meetings, when he was chief minister of Gujarat.

Modi is one of just three people Abe follows on Twitter. The Japanese PM, who tweets relatively sparingly, has 355,000 followers, while Modi has 5.93 million.

Modi, who will begin his visit to Kyoto and Tokyo on August 30, said that he would interact "with all sections of Japanese society from students, political leaders to captains of industry" on his first bilateral visit outside the subcontinent.

"Japan's friendship with India is time tested. We are 2 vibrant democracies committed to advancing peace and prosperity in the world @AbeShinzo," Modi said as part of a series of eight tweets in which he also praised Japanese innovativeness and precision.

Modi and Abe's personal rapport goes beyond Twitter and the personal relationship the two leaders enjoy could be a key factor in achieving breakthroughs on the visit.